Tourism in Malaysia

Batu Caves, a popular tourist attraction in Selangor

Tourism in Malaysia is a major industry and contributor to the Malaysian economy. Malaysia was once ranked 9th in the world for tourist arrivals. ^[1] The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks Malaysia 25th out of 141 countries overall.

In an effort to diversify the economy and make Malaysia's economy less dependent on exports, the government pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. As a result, tourism has become Malaysia's third largest source of foreign exchange income, ^[2] and accounted for 7% of Malaysia's economy as of 2005. ^[3]

The government agency in charge of promoting tourism in Malaysia is Tourism Malaysia or the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB). On 20 May 1987, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established and TDC moved to this new ministry. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992.

In 1999, Malaysia launched a worldwide marketing campaign called "Malaysia, Truly Asia" which was largely successful and brought in over 7.4 million tourists. ^[4] The extra revenue generated by tourism helped the country's economy during the economic crisis of 2008. ^[5]

Types of tourism

Medical tourism

Main article: Medical tourism in Malaysia

Medical tourism is popular in Malaysia, with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council reporting an arrival of 641,000 foreign patients in 2011, 728,800 in 2012, 881,000 in 2013 and 882,000 in 2014. ^[6] Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, a government agency with the aim of promoting medical tourism, was launched in 2009 as an initiative by the Ministry of Health. ^[7]

Tourist arrivals

Tourist arrivals

In 2016, Malaysia recorded 26,757,392 tourist arrivals, a growth of 4.0% compared to 25,721,251 in 2015. The table lists the top 15 arrivals to Malaysia by their origin countries.

—	Denotes that the country was not within the top 15 arrivals for that year

Foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia

Country	Visitors (2023)	Visitors (2022)	Visitors (2021) [8]	Visitors (2020) [9]	Visitors (2019) [10]	Visitors (2018) [11]	Visitors (2017) [12]	Visitors (2016) [13]	Visitors (2015) [14]
Singapore	8,308,230	5,222,991	16,308	1,545,255	10,163,882	10,615,986	12,441,713	13,272,961	12,930,754
Indonesia	3,108,165	1,481,739	11,025	711,723	3,623,277	3,277,689	2,796,570	3,049,964	2,788,033
Thailand	1,551,282	715,528	59,607	394,413	1,884,306	1,914,692	1,836,522	1,780,800	1,343,569
China	1,474,114	211,363	7,701	405,149	3,114,257	2,944,133	2,281,666	2,124,942	1,677,163
Brunei	811,833	301,757	773	136,020	1,216,123	1,382,031	1,660,506	1,391,016	1,133,555
India	671,846	324,548	3,916	155,883	735,309	600,311	552,739	638,578	722,141
South Korea	400,853	146,384	3,028	119,750	673,065	616,783	484,528	444,439	421,161
Vietnam	344,361	173,763	583	64,184	400,346	375,578	248,927	216,877	229,926
Australia	343,438	152,265	1,321	72,680	368,271	351,500	351,232	377,727	486,948
Philippines	339,282	159,442	2,317	66,051	421,908	396,062	370,559	417,446	554,917
Taiwan	283,380	48,132	563	60,090	382,916	383,922	332,927	300,861	283,224
United Kingdom	272,297	134,667	2,676	63,868	346,485	361,335	358,818	400,269	401,019
Japan	229,892	83,309	3,114	74,383	424,694	394,540	392,777	413,768	483,569
United States	229,476	108,141	2,030	48,810	269,928	253,384	198,203	217,075	237,768
Bangladesh	142,748	59,033	1,509	17,634	179,000	150,053	111,836	114,607	147,152
Germany	125,987	57,780	824	27,458	130,221	128,895	109,816	130,276	144,910
France	115,145	55,087	843	28,237	141,661	139,408	131,668	134,257	151,474
Russia	109,689	33,003	399	28,694	79,984	72,785	67,564	50,893	55,263
Pakistan	107,657	60,535	2,043	17,777	105,757	74,458	53,453	58,388	69,112
Myanmar	86,298	36,765	377	9,745	46,257	38,513	42,314	49,175	66,553
Cambodia	72,627	39,823	250	16,548	97,097	90,113	42,004	61,844	75,059
Canada	71,981	30,656	471	16,631	87,568	84,705	67,056	72,337	79,557
Netherlands	68,448	31,070	466	14,486	82,110	81,651	75,885	72,200	84,584
Sri Lanka	55,050	24,906	385	8,142	26,058	28,376	43,738	33,340	51,337
Saudi Arabia	51,375	35,980	687	23,390	121,444	112,263	100,549	123,878	99,754
Italy	48,440	18,866	300	8,971	54,710	52,055	44,638	42,747	51,946
New Zealand	42,955	18,238	196	8,794	50,140	50,698	55,923	53,352	60,846
Spain	40,762	20,474	147	6,367	43,616	42,267	35,149	28,018	36,692
Switzerland	23,312	10,486	197	5,263	25,659	25,680	20,775	26,628	28,141
Poland	21,472	8,472	161	7,539	27,033	24,364	20,067	19,768	19,920
Egypt	20,783	11,117	652	6,204	29,831	27,909	23,760	30,231	25,637
Iran	19,908	7,570	314	7,078	46,559	67,094	59,023	47,102	65,066
Nepal	18,488	11,379	198	5,067	20,437	19,914	20,553	60,476	93,159
Ireland	18,127	8,739	137	3,735	25,659	19,687	20,854	18,208	22,746
Sweden	18,006	8,083	253	9,292	29,592	32,665	34,304	32,861	35,586
Belgium	17,726	7,543	122	3,734	22,082	20,624	17,327	14,283	18,789
Turkey	17,275	7,169	286	3,152	15,290	15,406	14,594	13,029	15,395
Laos	16,781	7,010	425	5,424	26,955	23,782	39,460	31,061	24,448
Denmark	16,053	7,717	214	6,061	22,314	23,566	23,219	21,612	24,113
South Africa	15,155	7,937	168	3,876	22,674	21,977	21,560	20,053	20,625
Iraq	12,562	6,008	452	3,628	21,421	22,291	18,555	22,533	20,098
Ukraine	11,129	4,381	298	6,326	16,019	14,529	13,068	12,971	10,672
Norway	9,981	4,960	136	3,552	14,585	15,202	14,121	14,709	18,622
Kazakhstan	8,298	2,836	141	6,065	18,138	13,861	12,577	10,717	15,410
United Arab Emirates	7,877	3,230	86	679	11,174	9,386	8,555	14,150	15,769
Grand Total	20,141,846	10,074,964	134,728	4,332,722	26,100,784	25,832,354	25,948,459	26,757,392	25,721,251

Destinations and attractions

Further information: List of tourist attractions in Malaysia

• 

  Bird's-eye view of Kuching, Sarawak

  Alor Setar – capital of Kedah, the state of the paddy fields
• George Town – the capital city of Penang, one of the country's UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 7 July 2008.
• Ipoh – capital of Perak, famous for its Chinese food, tin mines and limestone mountains and caves
• Johor Bahru – capital of Johor, and gateway to Singapore
• Kangar – capital of Perlis, and gateway to Thailand
• Kota Kinabalu – capital of Sabah, nearest city to Mount Kinabalu
• Kota Bharu – capital of Kelantan, and gateway to Thailand
• Kuala Terengganu – capital of Terengganu, famous for the turtles and beaches
• Kuantan – capital of Pahang, noted for its many beaches
• Kuching – capital of Sarawak, the Cat City of Malaysia
• Malacca City – a historical city in Malaysia. This is the other cultural World Heritage Site in Malaysia since 7 July 2008.
• Seremban – the capital of Negeri Sembilan, and the nearest cities to Port Dickson
• Putrajaya – the administrative centre of Malaysia
• Victoria – capital of Labuan, the offshore financial centre of Malaysia
• Petaling Jaya – a satellite city located in the state of Selangor, and is in the proximity of Kuala Lumpur. It has the most commercial complexes in Malaysia.

Beside the main cities, there other town and places in Malaysia offer some special tourist attraction. Such as in Taiping for their landscape and local attraction. Teluk Intan for their Leaning tower. Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Bukit Tinggi in Pahang and Kundasang in Sabah for a cool climate. Muar in Johor is famous for its food. Miri is the official tourism-city and resort city of Sarawak and Sibu in Sarawak is famous for its landscape and parks.

Islands and beaches

Teluk Cempedak Beach, Kuantan

South Beach, Perhentian Besar

Malaysia has several tropical islands. Some of the islands in Malaysia are:

• Kapas
• Labuan
• Langkawi
• Lang Tengah
• Mabul
• Pangkor
• Penang
• Perhentian
• Rawa
• Redang
• Sipadan
• Tenggol
• Tioman
• Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park

National parks and nature reserves

Further information: List of national parks in Malaysia

• Kubah National Park, Sarawak
• Bako National Park, Sarawak – famed for its wildlife, especially Bornean bearded pigs and proboscis monkeys
• Batang Ai National Park, Sarawak.
• Gunung Buda National Park, Sarawak.
• Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak
• Gunung Gading National Park, Sarawak
• Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak
• Niah Caves National Park, Sarawak
• Loagan Bunut National Park, Sarawak
• Kinabalu National Park, Sabah – home of 4100 metre peak Mount Kinabalu
• Taman Negara National Park – the world's oldest rainforest, spanning Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu
• Endau Rompin National Park, Johor
• Taman Eko Rimba, Kuala Lumpur - the nature reserve in the middle of Kuala Lumpur. The nature reserve is located near Kuala Lumpur Tower.
• Kinabenuwa Wetland & Mangrove Forest, Labuan

Other places of interest

• A' Famosa Resort, Malacca
• Aquaria KLCC, KL
• Bakelalan, Sarawak
• Bario, Sarawak
• Batu Caves, Selangor
• Batu Ferringhi, Penang
• Berjaya Hills Resort, Pahang
• Berjaya Times Square, KL
• Bukit Bintang, KL
• Cameron Highlands, Pahang
• Central Market, KL
• Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Malacca
• Chin Swee Caves Temple, Pahang
• Crystal Mosque, Terengganu
• Dhammikarama Burmese Temple, Penang
• Fort Cornwallis, Penang
• Fraser's Hill, Pahang
• Genting Highlands, Pahang
• Gurney Drive, Penang
• Islamic Arts Museum, KL
• Kampung Baru, KL
• Kek Lok Si , Penang
• Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Pahang ^{[15] [16]}
• Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, KL
• Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park, KL
• Kuala Lumpur Tower, KL
• Labuan Bird Park, Labuan
• Labuan Botanical Gardens, Labuan
• Labuan Financial Park Complex, Labuan
• Labuan Maritime Museum, Labuan
• Labuan Kwang Fook Kong Temple, Labuan
• Labuan War Cemetery, Labuan
• Long Pasia, Sipitang, Sabah
• Masjid Negara, KL
• Merdeka Square, KL
• Mines Wellness City, Selangor
• Muzium Negara, KL
• National Monument, KL
• Penang Hill, Penang
• Perdana Botanical Gardens, KL
• Petronas Twin Towers, KL
• Poh San Teng Temple, Malacca
• Snake Temple, Penang
• Sri Mahamariamman Temple, KL
• Stadium Merdeka, KL
• Sultan Abdul Samad Building, KL
• Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque, Selangor
• Sunway Lagoon, Selangor
• Thean Hou Temple, KL
• Wat Chetawan, Selangor
• Wat Phothivihan, Kelantan
• Zoo Negara, Selangor

See also

• List of museums in Malaysia
• Visa policy of Malaysia
• Tourist Police (Malaysia)
• Malaysian Tourist Guides Council

References

1. http://travel-to-malaysia.com/malaysia-is-ninth-most-visited-in-the-world-in-unwto-list/
2. Munan, Heidi. Malaysia. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002. pp. 28.
3. "M'sia is ninth most visited in the world in UNWTO list". The Star. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
4. Munan, Heidi. Malaysia. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002. pp. 29.
5. Warshaw, Steven, and A. J. Tudisco. Southeast Asia Emerges; a Concise History of Southeast Asia from Its Origin to the Present. [Berkeley, Calif.]: Diablo, 1975. Print. pp. 77.
6. "Statistics". Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council. Archived from the original on 3 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
7. "Who we are". Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
8. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2021)" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2022.
9. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2020)" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2022.
10. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2019)" (PDF). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
11. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2018)" (PDF). Retrieved 21 February 2019.
12. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2017)" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2018.
13. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2016)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
14. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2015)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
15. Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary (Temerloh) Archived 18 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Tourism Pahang.
16. Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Endemic Guides.

• Top 15 arrivals by nationality

External links

• Tourism Malaysia
• Pahang Tourism official website